688 – Dual Dogs Serve Dual Purpose
Dual Dogs Serve Dual Purpose
Brittany puppy with big dreams.
Host Laura Reeves is joined by Bobby Brian Lewis to talk guided quail hunts in Georgia and how his dual champion Brittanies help create goodwill for purebred dogs and dog breeders generally in this very old Southern tradition.
Lewis has been guiding quail hunts since he was a teenager and his dad is still guiding in his 80s. The vast plantations and preserves of Georgia are a perfect backdrop for these hunts, Lewis said.
“A lot of people we take, they’ve got the money to do it,” Lewis noted. “So they’re influential. I mean I’ve taken senators, representatives, ex governors, state senators from Tennessee have all hunted with us and that kind of helps promote (purebred) dogs also.
“You kind of get to know them a lot of more. They e-mail me, text me the next day and say ‘hey, where can I get training birds,’ they’re involved in our sport now and we’ve kind of got an advocate on our side.
“Just this year we had some legislation coming through in Georgia on dog breeders. The first thing I did was call a couple representatives I know and go, ‘this is gonna hurt our business here and we’re trying to get good purebred dogs that have all the health testing and those type of things. And those are the puppies we’re trying to sell. And this is going to kind of hinder this a little bit.’ And they were like, well, ‘tell me more.’”
Lewis also noted that he’s “sold” on the importance of correct conformation in his bird dogs because they are sound and able to hunt well into their older years.
“The conformation means I can hunt them till they’re 10, 12, thirteen years old. Doing this type of hunting is very strenuous. We can guide 5-6 days a week. I kept some stats at the end of the season last year, where a dog on the ground retrieved 32 birds in 42 minutes.”
All the birds shot during the hunt are eaten by guests and the family. Lewis even shared some of his favorite quail recipes (if you don’t happen to have quail available, cornish game hens are a reasonable substitute.)
174 – 65-Year Love Affair Started with a Brittany
65-Year Love Affair Started with a Brittany
When Loraine Boutwell and her husband, Victor, acquired their first Brittany in 1953 they paid $35. The puppy traveled by train from Oklahoma to Topeka, Kansas in what Loraine describes as something like a wooden orange crate
Victor Boutwell, who passed away in 2003, owned a Brittany as his hunting dog when the couple began dating. Eventually they attended field trials and Loraine says she loved watching the dogs work. She fell in love with one of the field trial champions and decided they needed one of his puppies. According to Loraine, Victor said it was her idea, so she had to pay for it!
Beautiful Field Trial Brittany Goes to the Dog Show
The Boutwells were smitten with their new puppy and decided she was so beautiful they had to take her to a dog show. Thus
began their long history with the Heart of America Kennel Club and love affair with dog shows.
From breeding a champion in every group to handling all-breeds, from active all-breed club involvement to judging six groups, Loraine has been long involved in every aspect of the sport.
She said sound, correct movement remains her top priority in any of the breeds she judges.
“… when a dog comes in, I don’t want to see them stacked first,” Boutwell said. “… I’d rather see them moving. And I have them come in one at a time. And I spend quite a bit of time, I usually watch them go almost all the way around… And then I think this is a quality class or I’m going to have to work at this. I have a clue from just going around what kind of quality I have. And then I’ll think, well I have about five dogs there that are just wonderful. And one I’m going to have to move several times because the owner is new. And we can spot it right away. Because you want to evaluate that dog, even though the person may be not a wonderful handler, but you want to be able to evaluate that dog as best you can.”
Boutwell still retains the love for performance work that was sparked in a young woman’s heart so many years ago.
“I just love to see the dogs work doing what they were bred to do. That, to me, is icing on the cake if they can do that,” Boutwell said. “If they win their championship that’s perfect but they’ve got to be able to do what they were bred to do.”
Loraine and Victor Boutwell celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary the year before Victor passed away. Purebred dogs were their lives, Loraine said.
“I’ve been judging for 38 years,” Boutwell said. “And they’ve been wonderful and if I had had any idea that I would still be judging now, at my age I would say ‘oh no no. Couldn’t do it.’ Well I am. And I’m loving it. I had to cut back, but I still want to do it. I still want to be able to judge.”
I hope you enjoy this delightful conversation with one of our sport’s most enduring and charming participants. I know I did!